Episode Commentary: TS-19
With each episode, the cast continues to shrink on “The Walking Dead,” with the season one finale trimming the numbers of the group even further.
This element alone gives the show a bigger edge, as the viewer can now get more attached to the characters they “think” have a better chance of surviving. However, at the same time, these characters are being taken on a journey that isn’t nearly as enthralling as the material it’s based on.
Sure, the drama between Laurie and Shane is intriguing, but it was never supposed to go this far. As far as many comic book fans are concerned, Shane is supposed to be dead. The near rape scene between the two was interesting and will lead to some drama, it just leads you to wonder why the writers have chosen to stray so far from the comic.
It’s also understandable that the writers wanted to spice things up with this whole angle with Center for Disease Control, but it comes way too early in the show. The fact that this group knows already that the world is destroyed is a horrible thing.
That hope, that things may be okay and that the government may have a solution, is what guides the comic book series.
It isn’t until later that the group begins to truly change as people and feel the effects of the disaster. Again, while the CDC angle isn’t something out of left field for the series, it just comes at entirely the wrong time.
This won’t affect anyone who hasn’t seen the comic book, who are being completely entertained every Sunday, but it will have long-term effects on the overall future of the show. With all the characters beginning to lose their sanity and hope, there’s nothing to wait for, no slow progression, no microcosm for humanity.
Instead, you have a great sitcom with some problem in pacing that is trying to be something special.
The problem is, it already was.
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